The Response of the Indo-Pacific Throughflow to Interannual Variations in the Pacific Wind Stress. Part I: Idealized Geometry and Variations

Abstract

Abstract The effect of interannual variations in the Pacific wind stress on the barotropic and baroclinic components of the flow between the Pacific and Indian Oceans through the Indonesian Archipelago, the Indo-Pacific Throughflow, is investigated using a numerical ocean general circulation model (GCM) with a simplified geometry. In agreement with the modified Island Rule, variations in the depth-integrated throughflow are generated by zonal wind stress variations over the Pacific at the latitudes of the tips of the Australian continent, assuming the Pacific basin is flat bottomed. Wind stress variations at other latitudes generate variations in the depth-integrated transport only if they produce a depth-integrated pressure drop along the oceanic eastern boundary through the archipelago. From the Island Rule, alongshore wind stress variations on the west coasts of Australia and South America produce direct variations, but the observed signal is weak at interannual periods. Baroclinic variations in the th...